bluejester

ProfHotpants wrote:Right now, it's the long sleeve tees, but there are more possibilities in the works. I can't tell you what exactly, though, because it will ruin the surprise.

Please either quality post this response or please put up an Editors note at the top of this thread for this response and other ones given regarding the nature of this continuing relationship. Not trying to be rude or bossy here, just think that since it's pretty obvious that our main concern is the that AA still get some business and Americans are given jobs that it be made clearer.

(Also, even if I'm sad or down by the news of this change, I do appreciate that you guys have a rapid response team on this tonight.)

ProfHotpants

I'd recommend putting a forewarning of the sizing change on the purchasing page. I thought that I'd check to see if there was one by clicking on a shirt from the reckoning.

If the sizes are even a little different (especially for the women folk) there likely needs to be several warnings of this change. (Just some thoughts after several years in the customer service/retail industry).

Thanks! I know the Developers have been examining what possibilities we have for coding up such an alert, but I think we are stuck with the yellow "Hey check the size chart" alert on the sale page for now.

catrionab90

So...just putting this out there...what about colors? I'm sure the colors will all change somewhat as colors vary from brand to brand. Will there be a new color palette available, and will there be new colors options that weren't available before?

badlass

ProfHotpants wrote:Thanks! I know the Developers have been examining what possibilities we have for coding up such an alert, but I think we are stuck with the yellow "Hey check the size chart" alert on the sale page for now.

Maybe move it to the top of the page? The fit is pretty tight for me and even an inch makes a big difference.

bluejester

ProfHotpants wrote:Thanks! I know the Developers have been examining what possibilities we have for coding up such an alert, but I think we are stuck with the yellow "Hey check the size chart" alert on the sale page for now.

Not sure if you already headed to bed or if another staffer is out there, but perhaps for starters, place a "Check the New Size Chart" button by the "I want one" button. It may seem like overkill, but right now the button is 'below the fold' as they say.

It's less likely people who are quick buyers will use the scroll bar and notice the box at the bottom of the page no matter how big and yellow and shiny it is. Not trying to be mean to my fellow man, it just so happens I worked on a web optimization manual for a company a couple years ago.

geekfactor12

zosai wrote:That's not why Woot is doing it. Perhaps not the staff people responding in this thread, but the major difference between AA and Anvil is cost.

I'm not sure we actually have enough information to say that. From Woot's perspective, there are two pretty major issues they may or may not have with AA that would not be obvious to customers, such as:

- Availability of specific colors and sizes. Some manufacturers are not great at actually providing their customers with the shirts they need when they need them, which might mean Woot has to tailor their print schedule (or even shirt color choices in general) based on that outside force. It could be costly, and even lead to delays in time-sensitive designs.

- Quality of product received. I have heard anecdotally that AA may have a higher rate of damaged or irregular product being delivered than most manufacturers (and indeed, I have received shirts from companies that print on AA that lead me to believe this claim). If this is a problem Woot has had, it could greatly affect their internal quality control process and/or returns from their own customers.

The truth is, there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff that could make AA kind of suck for Woot in ways that are not at all clear to customers (even though it's possible it affects prices). Maybe Anvil's a better deal in some of those ways.

Since Woot is obviously eager to maintain a positive relationship with AA and continues to use them in a lesser capacity, it might not be prudent for them to discuss what AA's specific shortcomings might be. But them not saying them doesn't necessarily mean they don't exist...

fablefire

$2 increase and cheaper, imported shirts. I'm guessing the mods here don't have the upcoming year's marketing game plan, but I'm curious about what's coming down the lines. If you guys *do* know, sharing could be a good way to get people a little more excited.

I'm excited about women's shirts that will house my 36Cs sufficiently.

joelterrific

Community is the backbone of Woot so as painful as this thread is to read, it's still strangely reassuring to be given the what's what from you all. Change like this isn't easy, and while I certainly don't expect a parade, I expect you to keep us honest and grounded while we continue to provide a world class platform for designers. Thanks for your feedback, your support and your business. I'll get back to my rampant profiteering and blatant disregard for decency. I might shout at a kitten or two for good measure.

panthiest

joelterrific wrote:Community is the backbone of Woot so as painful as this thread is to read, it's still strangely reassuring to be given the what's what from you all. Change like this isn't easy, and while I certainly don't expect a parade, I expect you to keep us honest and grounded while we continue to provide a world class platform for designers. Thanks for your feedback, your support and your business. I'll get back to my rampant profiteering and blatant disregard for decency. I might shout at a kitten or two for good measure.

bluejester

joelterrific wrote:Community is the backbone of Woot so as painful as this thread is to read, it's still strangely reassuring to be given the what's what from you all. Change like this isn't easy, and while I certainly don't expect a parade, I expect you to keep us honest and grounded while we continue to provide a world class platform for designers. Thanks for your feedback, your support and your business. I'll get back to my rampant profiteering and blatant disregard for decency. I might shout at a kitten or two for good measure.

Don't lie Joel, I heard from Mr. Wednesday that you eat those kitties whole before swimming in a moneybin that would make Scrooge McDuck envious.

In all seriousness though, thanks for reading through our rants, comments, and concerns.

zvixie

Just to echo what other ladies here have said, I own many woot! tees, but definitely not for the fit, I am fairly slender and wear a WS and they definitely have an odd fit. I have no personal experience with anvil tees, but I am excited by the possibility of a better fit. I basically just have the two questions that I haven't seen answered so far, 1. What does this mean for colors? and 2. Pricing? Will it go back down when the switch is complete?

missmelis

joelterrific wrote:Community is the backbone of Woot so as painful as this thread is to read, it's still strangely reassuring to be given the what's what from you all. Change like this isn't easy, and while I certainly don't expect a parade, I expect you to keep us honest and grounded while we continue to provide a world class platform for designers. Thanks for your feedback, your support and your business. I'll get back to my rampant profiteering and blatant disregard for decency. I might shout at a kitten or two for good measure.

Why, did your podiatrist tell you to take a break from kicking them?

That's only half tongue in cheek. I'm seriously irritated, and clearly I'm not the only one. To reiterate my post earlier in this thread, it's not just the price increase or the change in shirt blanks that's making me skeptical, it's the fact that both happened so close together. Can you hold off on the sarcasm long enough to provide a real argument as to why we shouldn't see that as rampant profiteering?

The goodness of the true pun is in the direct ratio of its intolerability. - Edgar Allan Poe

Narfcake

joelterrific wrote:Community is the backbone of Woot so as painful as this thread is to read, it's still strangely reassuring to be given the what's what from you all.

Most of us are NOT this vocal unless it's something going against what we've expected. A good number of us were NOT against the price increase. A good number ARE against the price increase for a product that obviously costs less.

Change like this isn't easy, and while I certainly don't expect a parade, I expect you to keep us honest and grounded while we continue to provide a world class platform for designers.

Some designers felt squeezed already when the debut day sales went from 3k to 5k and then 6k.

Thanks for your feedback, your support and your business. I'll get back to my rampant profiteering and blatant disregard for decency. I might shout at a kitten or two for good measure.

I will continue to offer feedback. I will support the designers with the derby votes. I very unsure about continuing my purchasing habits, which is at like 30 shirts already this year.

panthiest

calebmitchell wrote:I sincerely hope this means I can resume purchasing Woot shirts again. I haven't bought any in a while since every other shirt I've bought in the past year has fallen apart after one to two wears.

Really? I'm wearing one right now I bought a couple years ago that looks the exact same as the day I got it, and I don't have that many shirts so they get a lot of wear.

azdarkknight

It has been interesting reading this thread so far. From what I can tell -
1) The ladies welcome the change as AA appeared to not be a good fit
2) There has been no answer (or maybe avoidance) to questions as to why the price increased to cover the increased costs followed so swiftly by a change to a cheaper supplier that is not USA made.

Really though, did we expect anything different once Amazon got their hands on Woot? Theyve let the dust settle now and people get comfortable with it so now its time to turn the screw. Ive noticed poorer quality general woots over the past months and now this.

I know that if I buy a shirt thats on the new blank and it does not fit correctly, then I will be returning it for a refund. I assume that Woot are going to be receptive to this due to this being a major change to their product?

I will now be going back to checking out the competition for American made shirts. Although I may not be a large buyer of shirts - I do know Ive sold many on behalf of woot by passing on the link for shirts that I knew appealed to friends/family.

jeninmaine

I posted this on the current shirt thread, but now I see this here so I'll copy and paste:

Bluck, Anvil shirts are total crap. My folks have owned a silk-screening shop for 25 years (until they took arrows to their knees...just kidding) and Anvil shirts are the craptasticest of the crap.

The cotton/poly blend are flimsy and wicked uncomfortable, and the 100% cotton are just weird. Stiff as hell and thick - too thick. I remember wearing lots of misprints as a kid and the Anvil shirts were no good for doing any kind of sports in as they felt like wearing a tarp. The neckholes were too tight, the ribbing around the neck was so wide (I like the narrower ribbing on the AA shirts a lot better), and the fit was just weird.

I don't hold out a lot of hope that they've changed significantly over the years, looking at one of the recent supplier catalogs I can see that they're still one of the cheapest options.

sukeban

Er, hi. I'm a new user and I'm currently waiting for my first shirt (Lucky at last, just shipped), but I'm a bit alarmed about what I'm hearing in the forums about the AA ladies' sizes, since I have, uh, large tracts of land and now I don't even know if a 18" wide shirt will really be 18" wide when it arrives. It will be really nice to *know* that shirts will fit us stacked and/or larger ladies. Bigger sizes so more girls can enjoy cute shirts will be great, too.

Since I'm not American, I'm not too concerned with the country where the shirts are made *as long as they're guaranteed to be sweatshop-free*. I'm not terribly impressed with Dov Charney's reputation w/r women, either, so frankly I won't be crying about the shirt provider change.

calebmitchell

panthiest wrote:Really? I'm wearing one right now I bought a couple years ago that looks the exact same as the day I got it, and I don't have that many shirts so they get a lot of wear.

Yeah. I don't understand it either, because all of my older Woot shirts are just fine. There's a couple I've had for over a year (when I first started purchasing shirts) that I have worn countless times and they are just fine. But the more recent ones are hit & miss. Some are fine, some came in the mail damaged, and on some, the seams came loose/the sleeves ripped/stiching came loose after being worn once or twice. I've purchased a total of 27 Woot shirts, and of those, about 10 are still wearable.

jespensc

I've lost count of the number of woot shirts I've bought (75? 100?), but it's enough that my kids don't wear anything else. Besides my clickityclickity mania, the "made in the USA" part made it really easy. But that's gone now.

Anyway, two bucks more and outsourced just as things are looking up... makes me bitter. My kids are getting older and more jaded, bitter too.... maybe t-shirt hell will get the business. At least I can buy me some made-in-US cloth with the eye-searing designs.

badlass

sukeban wrote:Er, hi. I'm a new user and I'm currently waiting for my first shirt (Lucky at last, just shipped), but I'm a bit alarmed about what I'm hearing in the forums about the AA ladies' sizes, since I have, uh, large tracts of land and now I don't even know if a 18" wide shirt will really be 18" wide when it arrives. It will be really nice to *know* that shirts will fit us stacked and/or larger ladies. Bigger sizes so more girls can enjoy cute shirts will be great, too.

Since I'm not American, I'm not too concerned with the country where the shirts are made *as long as they're guaranteed to be sweatshop-free*. I'm not terribly impressed with Dov Charney's reputation w/r women, either, so frankly I won't be crying about the shirt provider change.

The AA shirts do measure as stated on the sizing chart. Take the tightest shirt you own that you'll still wear. Lay it flat and measure across the chest. Whatever that number is is the smallest chest width number you need to order for it to fit. Good luck! If it doesn't fit, you can always try selling/trading it on the Random Shirt Trade thread. Just search for "trade"

jeninmaine

Also FWIW I avoid Anvil shirts like the plague as being a lady with large bazooms all of the ones I've had wash up and get too tight across the chest. It stretches out with wear, but it just feels very strange and not good and returns to too-small size after each wash. I've also noted that the unisex shirts tend to shrink vertically and stretch horizontally over time, sort of resembling a barrel. It's not due to my bazooms as it happens to the whole body of the shirt, not just the chest.

These Anvil shirts also knocked over a plant, pissed in my shoes and scratched up my favorite chair. They are very naughty.

annewaterman

Well I can't partake in the 'if-it's-not-made-in-the-usa-i'd-rather-be-naked' blabbity bloop because honestly my jeans aren't made in the USA, I buy Bananas, etc etc.

Ideally it was great to be able to support a US based company and I try my best to shop from companies that promote fair trade and sustainable sourcing but really no one is perfect...not even shirt.woot

I think consumers these days try their best to do what they think is right. Buying from shirt.woot was guilt free and made us feel good so I understand that a lot of people will be turned off shirt.woot completely.

I also think it was hella shady for them to tell us the price increase was so they could continue using shirts made in the USA and then say *SIKE*.

If the fit and quality is as great as they are leading us on to believe then I'll probably continue buying cause I can't resist a kitty shirt.

alexxxz

Since you're making the change to non american made shirts, does this mean that the price will drop back down to $10? A price raise, followed by shirts made over seas, is kind of a giving it to us twice.

missmelis

azdarkknight wrote:It has been interesting reading this thread so far. From what I can tell -
1) The ladies welcome the change as AA appeared to not be a good fit

Not all of the ladies welcome the change. Granted, most of the ladies who post here are not big fans of the AA women's sizing, but some of us are perfectly happy with the AA men's shirts - some even wear kids' sizes.

azdarkknight wrote:2) There has been no answer (or maybe avoidance) to questions as to why the price increased to cover the increased costs followed so swiftly by a change to a cheaper supplier that is not USA made.

I will probably buy in each of the next two months' random sales - those should still be populated primarily by shirts printed on AA blanks. Aside from that, and scrounging up the cash to buy pretty much every current tee I like from the Reckoning, I suspect my woot purchases will drop off sharply.

The goodness of the true pun is in the direct ratio of its intolerability. - Edgar Allan Poe

dantesilicato

Tis the nature of all business in this country.
Higher prices and less quality.
O the impermanence...

The anvil blanks are 1/2 the price.
Outsourced again.
I love my Woot Shirts.
They are (were) made in the USA, always fit great (reliable), and never shrank when I washed them.

Everyone seems to be feeling confused and quite uneasy about this change.

For me, shirt.woot is WOOT.
The t-shirts (coupled with the artists) were the center of my WOOT universe and I'm sure many others.
I was never interested in buying anything else outside of that realm...

What I'm also wondering is this:

What are the working conditions for the other 23% of non-unionized workers.

annewaterman

missmelis wrote: ... Aside from that, and scrounging up the cash to buy pretty much every current tee I like from the Reckoning, I suspect my woot purchases will drop off sharply.

My husband and I just did that...between the 2 of us we just bought 7. It may be his last shirts because the fit of AA was perfect for him. He's a big guy and usually 2xl shirts have the weirdest sleeves and are made for people with really broad shoulders. So who knows how these will fit.

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